Continuous outlet receptacle



June 26, -1934. K. w. Du Bols Er AL 1,964,042

I CONTINUOUS OUTLET RECEPTACLE Filed May 28, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 12 *aff INVENTORS Z5 KennethW. DuBois Byill am L. Cooke.

ATT N EY June 26, 1934. K; W. 'DU Bols Er AL 1,964,042

CONTINUOUS OUTLET RECEPTACLE Filed May 28. 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS KennehWI DuBois BYWi llam L.Cooke Patented Jane 26, 1934 ENT OFFICE i insecte pompons currar Rnoar'mota Kenneth vW.

Dn Bois and lL. Cooke,

Plainville, Ecrin.

Appuetien May 2s, i932, serial Na. 614,154

rlln's invention relates to electric plug receptacles, and more particularly to a continuous elongated outlet device adapted to be located on topoi a wail baseboard for permitting the at,

tachment oi electric plugs at any desired point along the length oi the wall.

One object of this invention is to provide a convenience outlet device of the above nature a. pair of spaced bus bars located within an insulating casing which is provided with a central partition to form two slots for receiving the Contact prongs of an electric plug or a series ci such plugs for delivering current to any desired power consuming devices.

A further object is to provide a double-slot outlet strip or" the above nature in which the interior of the casing is sealed from the outside to prevent the entrance of dirt or other injurious materials. A

A further object is to provide a continuous outlet strip of the above nature which will be simple in construction, inexpensive to manuiac.

ture, easy to install and manipulate, compact, ornamental in appearance, and very eiiicent and durable in use.

With these and other objects in view there have vbeen illustrated on the accompanying drawings one form of outlet strip and three forms of attachment plugs in which the invention may` be conveniently embodied in practice.

ln the drawings:

Fig. i represents a view, partly in elevation and partly in section, of the preferred form of continuous outlet strip as it appears in position upon a wail base-board and surmounted by a molding.

Fig. 2 is a. fragmentary elevation view of one end of the continuous outlet strip shown in Fig. 1 with the cover plate removed to show the method of connecting the feed cable to the bus-bars.

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view of the same with the cover plate in place, the

view being taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

view being taken along theline 6-6 of Fig. '1. Y

Fig. 7 is a bottom plan view of the same.

Fig. 8 is a longitudinal sectional View of a second form of attachment plug, showing another means for locking it to the outlet strip.

Fig. 9 is a detail perspective view of a split conical bushing adapted to be used forlocking the electric cable to the plug member.

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a corner plug receptacle, showing a means for electrically connecting the bus-bars of the two adjacent sections.,

Fig. 11 is a perspective view` showing a special form oi angular strip for frictionally connecting the bus-bars at the mitered corners of two adjacent outlet strips.

It has been found dilcult and expensive in the past to arrange the usual outlet sockets in a room in the most convenient positions. By means of the present invention the above and other disadvantages have been eliminated.`

Referring now to the drawings in which like reference numerals denote corresponding parts throughout the several Views, the numeral 10 indicates a continuous outletcasing adapted to be attached to a wall between an ornamental molding l1 and the upper edge of a base-board 12v secured to the wall 13 of a room.

Bil

The outlet casing 10 includes a U-shaped chan-` nel member 14 having the outer end of its side walls l5 and 16 inwardly curved to form a. pair of semi-cylindrical large beads 17 and 18. The channel member 14 is adapted to be divided by means` of a narrow center channel member 19 permanently attached to the base 20 of the casing l0 by aplurality of tubular eyelets 21. The main channel member 14 and the dividing channel 19 are constructed from resilient insulating material, preferably of bre board. The outer ends of the dividing channel 19 are folded back inwardly upon themselves to form a pair of small beads 22 and 23, which areadapted to lie adjacent, and in contact with the large beads 17 and 18 when no plugs are inserted therein (see the right-hand of Fig. 1).

From this construction it is obvious that the casing 10 will be divided into a pair of separate sealed longitudinal compartments 24 and 25. Located within the compartments 24 and 25 are a pair of convex bus-bars 26 and 27. The bus-Y bars 26 and 27 have their outer edges 28 curled over' to frictionally t within the compartments 24 and 25, while the central portions of said busbars are provided with inwardly extending ribs 29 and 30 which are adapted to'be normally pressed against the outside walls of the dividing channel 19.

wall 13.

In order to supply electrical current to the busbars 26 and 27, one end of one section in a series of attached outlet casings 10 is provided with a plate 33 secured to the base 20 of the channel member 14 by a pair of tubular eyelet rivets 34. The plate 33 has a central tapped hole within which is engaged a flanged threaded bushing 35 to permit the passage into the casing of a pair of lead-in cables 36 and 37 which are adapted to be electrically joined to the ends of the bus-bars 26 and 27, as by soldering.

The electrical junction just described is adapted to be concealed by a removable cover plate 39 having a pair of spring metal clips 40 and 41 securely riveted to the inside of said plate 39 and adapted to resiliently engage the inner walls of the outlet casing 10 for holding the cover plate 39 securely in place. l Preferably, the cover plate 39 will have the same general shape as the face of the outlet casing 10.

As it is desirable to manufacture the continuous outlet receptacles in short lengths, such as four or ten feet, it will be necessary to electrically connect the enclosed bus-bars at the adjacent ends of the outlet casings l0. This electrical connection may be accomplished by extending the bus-bars on one end of each strip beyond the casing. This will permit the next casing to be frictionally and resiliently connected merely by telescoping the outwardly extending end, within the end of the next casing.

Fig. l1 shows a special form of bus-bar connector 75 having a pair of convex legs 76 and 77 dis-' posed'at'right-angleseto Leach other and having resilient inclined tongues 78 and 79 struck up from said legs 76 and 77. The right-angle connector 75 is used for electrically connectingthe bus-bars 26 and 27 at the .mitered corners of any two angularly connected outlet casings 10, as clearly shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 10.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 4, the outlet casing may be tapped at any desired point along the length thereof by plugging in any common form of plug 42 attached to the end of an electric cable 43 for operating any desired power consuming device. The plug 42 is provided with the usual parallel prongs 44 and 45 which are adapted to be inserted in the parallel slits 46 and 47 located between the contacting large and small beads 17, 22 and 18, 23, respectively. The prongs 44 and 45 Awill thus be caused to engage the bus-bars 26 and 27 within the casing 10.

A modified form of electric appliance plug 48 is shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7 which is adapted to be locked in position within the outlet casingV 10, so that the plug cannot be accidentally pulled out.

`, The plug 48 is provided with a special shaped cap member 49 of insulating material having a beaded side aperture 50 through which an electric cable 51 is adapted to pass. The cap 49 is provided with an integral central shaft 52 within which is slidably fitted a rod 53 having its inner end split to form two opposed tines 54 and 55. 'I'he outer'end of said rod 53 has a knob 56 byA means of which the tines 54 and 55 may be brought into registry with a transverse slot 57 formed onthe inner extremity of the shaft` 52, and said tines 54 and 55V are normally held within said slot 5 7 by means of a spiral spring 58 abutted between the locking knob 56 and the outer face of the shaft 52, i

- 'I'he modified plug 48 is provided with the usual prongs 59 and 60 which are adapted to contact with the bus-bars 26 and 27 for completing the circuit through an electric appliance. After the plug 48 has been pushed into the receptacle cas.- ing 10 as far as it will go, the plug may be locked in this position merely by pushing in and manually twisting the knob 56 to rotate the tines 54 and 55 within the central insulating channel 19 to the locking position shown in Fig. 5. The 85 parallel inturned ends. o! said channel 19 will then prevent'the spring 58 from retracting the tines to the normal position shown in Fig. 6. This type of attachment plug is especially useful il' the outlet strip 10 is located on the ceiling ior suspending a lighting fixture therefrom.

A further modiied form of plug is shown in Fig. 8 for use in connection with the improved outlet strip. In this form, provision is made of an insulated cap 64 having a pair of parallel contact 95 prongs65 and 66, which have converging extremi-v ties 67 and 68 terminating in shoulders 68a and 68h which are adapted to detachably t behind the grooved ribs 29 and 39 of the bus-bars 26 and 27 when the cap 64 has been plugged in as far as 100 it will go (see 8).

The cap 54 is provided with a central aperture 69 through which a two-wire electric cable 70 is passed, and said cable 70 may be locked within said aperture 59 by means of a hollow comcal 105' splitfushing 71, which is passed over the end of the cable 70 before the conductors 72 and 73 thereof are attached to the binding posts 74.

It will be obvious from the above construction that when the cable is pulled outm-'ardly` :from the no "cap 64, the split conical bushing 71 engaging,

Within the aperture 69 will be pressed inwardly against the cable 70, and the harder the cable is pulled, the tighter will 'the cable be clamped Within the bushjlig 71.

One advantage of the present invention is that the position ci an attachment plug may be changed merely by pushing it along in the outlet receptacle without the necessity of pulling out the plug and reinserting it at another point.

A further advantage is that the conductor cable may be securely held in the outlet plug without rknottirig the cable.

While there have been disclosed in this speciflcation several forms in which the invention :mayl be embodied, it is to he understood that these forms are shown for theA purpose of illustration only, and that the invention is not to he limited to the speciiic disclosures but may bemodiiied and embodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit. In short, the invention includes all the modiilcations and embodiments coming within the scopeof the vfollowing claims.

Having thus fully described`the invention, what 1s claimed as newand for which it is desired c0135 secure Letters Patent, is:

l. In an electric connecting device, an outerinsulating channel, an inner smaller insulating channel having its base secured to the base of said outer channel, the side walls of said inner channel having a pair of inturned ribs, a pair of bus bars located in said outer channel outside said side walls, an attachment plug having a pair of longif tudinal prongs for engaging said bus bars, said plug having a central sliding rotatable rod oetween Said prongs and provided with a pair of lateral tines for detachable engagement with said ribs to lock said plugs against accidental removal Y when said rod is rotated a quarter turn.

2. In an electric connecting device.'an outer 150 ing a central sliding rotatable rod between said prongs and provided with a. pair of lateral tines for detachable engagement with said ribs to lock said plug against accidental removal when said rod is rotated a quarter turn.

KENNETH W. DU BOIS. WILLIAM L. COOKE. 

